Oshan Anand, Tea Ceremonialist

My love affair with tea culture.

In my San Francisco teahouse, 2012.

I have a lifelong passion for tea. I grew up with parents who practiced alternative medicine, so tea was a daily ritual and a frequent remedy for health issues. From 9 to 18 years old, I grew up in England. Tea time is, of course, an essential feature of British culture.

For decades I have informally studied nutrition, alternative medicine, and herbalism.

In 2005 I was introduced to Gong Fu Cha (Chinese tea ceremony) by Master Wang, a Chinese healer that I was seeing in San Francisco. He integrated tea ceremony into his healing practice by having clients sit around the tea table before and after treatments.

Master Wang, my Gong Fu Cha teacher.

I quickly fell in love with this practice as a vehicle for promoting community, mindfulness, healing, reverence for nature, and heart-based communication. I have since been very missionary in promoting tea culture as a remedy for many of our societal ills.

Photo at the Urasenke Foundation, my Japanese tea ceremony school. I’m in the back row on the right.

In 2008 I began studying the Urasenke school of Chanoyu (Japanese Tea Ceremony).

Om Shan Tea, a rustic urban tea oasis, 2008–2012.

In 2008 I opened an organic restaurant/teahouse called Om Shan Tea, in the Mission District of San Francisco. This was a popular establishment and a cultural hub of San Francisco’s spiritual and arts communities.

The teahouse was home to hundreds of events including 12-step meetings, spiritual events, and poetry, dance, and music performances. It hosted world-renowned poets, dancers, musicians, and spiritual teachers. The teahouse was open for 3 ½ years and closed at the end of 2012.

I hosted a tea tasting for monks from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Deer Park Monastery. Click here for more photos.

I have taught tea ceremony to elementary school, middle school, high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate classes.

Leading a tea ceremony class at my teahouse for elementary school kids. Click here to see more pictures.

In 2010 I founded The Tea Circus, a performance arts troupe of dancers, magicians, and circus artists that presented tea-related acts to educate and inspire people about tea culture.

In addition to my teahouse, I have also set up tea lounges at hundreds of events including weddings, conferences, corporate events, parties, and festivals.

Oshan’s tea tent at Lightning in a Bottle festival 2022

A recent video of some new universes I discovered in my teacup.

Myself and a friend enjoying tea in a Zendo at Muir Beach, 2020.